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Lets face it: When spreadsheets buckle under 50,000 rows and customer onboarding takes five emails, you’re past the point of incremental fixes. But as the decision maker, you are still wondering, “Can’t we squeeze another year out of the old system?”
The opportunity cost is invisible until your competitor ships twice as fast.
The economics of bespoke vs. off-the-shelf
| Factor | SaaS License | Bespoke Build |
| Upfront outlay | Low | Medium |
| Fit to unique workflow | 50–60 % | 100 % |
| Change-request cost | High (vendor roadmap) | Low (inhouse backlog) |
| Competitive differentiation | Commoditised | Proprietary |
A hybrid strategy—custom core, commodity edges—often yields the sweet spot.
ROI levers
Here are some considerations to justify the cost of developing your own software
- Process time saved × average salary
- Error reduction × cost of rework
- Upsell/retention uplift from better customer UX
At Atula we discuss these metrics upfront in a ‘value ledger’ visible to both client and developer, ensuring features map to KPIs, not to the whims of either party.
Funding options
- R&D tax credits (UK)
- Innovate UK grants
- Revenue-based financing tied to cost savings
Remember: Software is not a cost centre; it is a scalability engine that, when aligned with strategy, prints optionality.